SSL Blog

With the latest iOS updates coming out from Apple you may have heard the term AR being thrown around. Many App developers are taking advantage of Apple's move towards AR improvements to make apps more interactive and immersive.

AR vs VR

AR is different from VR. In the instance of Virtual Reality, a headset or visual device is used to immerse you in a virtual/digital environment, whereas AR blends both the digital and real world.

What is AR? Short for "Augmented Reality" it brings the digital world into the real world through the lens of your iDevice. Many Apple app developers are starting to take advantage of AR to make their applications more immersive and interactive. You would've seen this feature in the Pokémon Go app, which took the world by storm! Popular social media apps like Snapchat and Instagram have now also integrated AR features for their users to have more fun. The AR feature is also a great tool for businesses like Ikea who have recently released their Ikea Place app, which allows you to place their products into your living space to have a 'preview' of what it would look like.

Here's a video from the good folk of Mashable explaining AR a little further.

Look what Apple has given to its iPhone 7 users! Recently Apple released a playlist of video tips on how to take better photos with your iPhone. Starting from the basics, the videos guide you from learning how to take a great selfie to taking an awesome action shot!

When the iPhone 7 was released it was rated one of the top smartphone cameras, even by professional photographers. Having a wider colour range, an improved lens (with a physical zoom!) and sensor for low light situations, photos from the iPhone 7 are sure to turn out great, and greater when you know how to take them! Also for the more tech savy, the RAW option makes it much more flexible for you to capture higher-resolution photos and edit them.

As previously mentioned in our article on “2 Easy Steps To Keep Your Device Up To Date With Security” there’s a lot of bad stuff happening in the cyber-world with a current Ransomware called WannaCry. But what exactly is Ransomware? Here’s what ransomware is and how you can deal with it and avoid it…

What Is Ransomware? In a nutshell Ransomware comes in two forms. The first is where all your data becomes ENCRYPTED and then a pop-up will occur asking for payment to decrypt your data. This is one of the most popular forms of Ransomware, but rarely has it affected Apple. The second form is when you are LOCKED out of your device and a pop-up notification can appear asking again for payment to have your device unlocked. This form of ransomware has personally happened to me, but lucky enough I was able to recognise it and deal with it.

How Do I Deal With Ransomware? When hit with a Ransomware attack there’s no blaming a person for panicking. It can be quite overwhelming and also invasive. There are quite a few simple steps though into dealing with it.

Always have a back up - I cannot stress enough how important it is to always back up your iPhone, iPad or Macbook! It’s as simple as backing up your iPhone/iPad to iCloud or to your computer via iTunes. For you MacBook users you can easily go out and buy an external hard drive and set it up with Time Machine.

Change your passwords - Log in to your AppleID account and change your password. Majority of the time this is the case in Ransomware attacks where your account has been compromised.

When my iPhone was affected by Ransomware the first thing I did was log on to my AppleID account, reset my password and then restored my phone from a previous backup.

How Do I Avoid Ransomware? As my father taught me, it’s always better to prevent than to find a cure. Here are a few simple things you can do to avoid getting caught up in a

Keep your devices updated - Apple has always been on the ball with keeping its security up to date so it always good to make sure your iOS and OS X are always updated.

Read before you click! - Sometimes the easiest way to be affected is via email by clicking on random links, or by clicking on random pop-ups in your browser. If you do get a window pop-up that you don’t recognise simply shut it down. Not by clicking on the red ‘X’ in the top left hand corner though, but by pressing COMMAND + ‘W’ because sometimes the window itself can have an ‘invisible link’ or a fake ‘x.’ These cyber buggers are tricky like that!

Try to avoid unprotected websites - The most simple way to tell if a website has good security is to look at the web address at the top of your Safari browser. If there is a padlock icon next to it then the site is protected.

Apple has just released the latest update for your iPhones/iPads with iOS 10.3.2, so please back up and update your devices ASAP! If you do find yourself in a pickle with Ransomware though and are feeling overwhelmed with how to deal with it, you can always give us a call or an email to book a meeting for us to help you out.

Setup Sync & Learn now has more than 350 clients in Sydney and Perth who benefit from our knowledge of Apple products, systems and software. The need for a Technology Coach or Home/Office IT Training and Support is increasing, and this is likely to continue as the world of technology is expanding and changing constantly, and everyone's knowledge somehow needs to grow with this - We are here to help you!